Tag: benha

Charming watched the lights of her river home recede while the flames spread through it. Another propane tank exploded lifting aluminum roof panels into the night sky. Flitting away from Song over the Benhá felt selfish. She would live when others would die, and that made her guilty. But Gane hadn’t given her any choice. He’d shaken her awake in her own bed and shoved clothes at her as told her she needed to come with him if she wanted to live.

She did want to live, but she hadn’t had time to understand the concussions Outward or the shuddering of the gangway beneath her feet as she ran to the Leaf. She hadn’t realized all of Song was under attack and not just her. Gane just pulled her behind him as they darted through empty passages lit by dim and sporadic fluorescent lamps. She could still feel his unwavering grip in her hand. She flexed her fingers and tried to rub out the memory of his certainty.

Charming decided no one would take choices from her again, then she turned away from the sight of her burning home and looked to the land. The cold river air disappeared as they crossed over the shore.

“Just the juice. Not the crystals,” Charming said. “Well, you could make some crystals, but not enough at a time from a bulb this size, and it would probably kill the coral.”

“Probably?”

None of this touri man’s questions were unfamiliar to Charming—she’d been asked all of them each day, every day, she put up her stall in Song’s pier market—but his insistence was so focused, so penetrating, she thought of her school exit interview. And not fondly.

“These bulbs are designed for decorating your kitchen and making enough juice for your coffee or tea or whatever. If you’re looking for the crystals I’d recommend ordering from Jack Ree’s here on Song or Phanee’s Sugar Works on the shore. They’re both on the net.” Charming gestured to the back table where her pad lay. “Now, I don’t know what Phanee’s charges for shipping, but Jack reminds me every day to tell people he doesn’t charge extra to send it to shore.”

The man continued to listen and smile at her like she was still speaking. Maybe he was considering what she’d just said. Maybe he was waiting for an answer to his question.

“And, yes. It would definitely kill the coral.”

“I don’t want that.”

Charming laughed lightly. “And I don’t either. That’s part of why we’re so accurate to infuse these bulbs with the right indicator colors.”

“When the rim turns clear, rinse and fill to the mark with distilled water. When it turns dark again, add five grams of sea salt?”

“Yes. Exactly.” The salesperson in her wanted to add a compliment on how quickly he’d learned the instructions to keep the coral alive and producing sugar, but she didn’t want to insult him.

“You said, ‘We.’ Do you make the glass bulbs too?”

“I can and I have, but my Daddy’s much better and faster than I am. I’m still no good at syncing them.”

“Your father’s had lots of practice,” he said. Then added quickly: “I imagine.”

Charming opened her mouth to respond, but didn’t.

“Do you have a synced set in green or maybe dark green?”

“I have this green here.” She laid her hand over a bulb of coral to the left of where they were speaking. “And I have a darker one back at my place I could get after lunch.”

“Excellent. No rush. I assume you can hold both for me? It will be a couple days before I leave.”

“Really? A couple days?”

“Why? Is that odd?” It was odd. Touris rarely spent more than a night on Song since the shore had better accommodations.

“Since you haven’t paid yet, I’ll just say it’s unusual to hear.”

He chuckled and handed her 16 bright yellow bills. “And now?”

Charming took the payment and set the two green-rimmed coral bulbs on the back table. “Thanks. Yeah, it’s odd.”

“Well, Miss Venda, I’ll keep that in mind for next time I visit Song.” It wasn’t until after he’d gone that Charming began wondering if she’d introduced herself by name to the man.

I mentioned yesterday that I had a new keyboard. I still have it. I’ve added about four fingers of scotch to the evening. Don’t worry, it’s got three cubes of ice so it can’t be more that two and a half fingers, and it ain’t all drunk.

One thing I’ve not done is define much about The Solex Corporation and it’s religious affiliations…or roots. I think maybe doing that could help me find additional layers of conflict in both the Shanty and Benhá threads. Let’s see what I can come up with.

So far I’ve written all the Brother Gane stuff with an odd mixture of religion and programmer speak. Essentially describing hres as prayers which work directly and very practically on solex panels. The language I’ve used to describe these prayers always uses programming jargon. I call him a monk, but I’ve not spent any time deciding what or who he prays to or why. I’ve loosely thought of the solex panels as solar panels which collect the suns rays and turn them into a form of magic parallel to electricity. Beyond that I’ve not thought it through.

Since I’ve been thinking of The Solex Corporation as a combination of monks and business men then maybe I’ ought to make the whole entity a bit bifurcated. I like that idea since it gives me the chance to have lots of fun internal squabbling and conflict, but I also like the challenge of writing it in such a way as to make it perfectly homogeneous and normal. If I did the later I’d want to make it 50:50. wouldn’t want there to be an obvious leaning one way or another—never a corporation with heavy religious influence; never a religious order with a corporate mentality. Both. Evenly.

Back to the magic though.

What’s the story there exactly? Part of me wants to perpetrate the hoax I’ve been harboring for a while now where a group of magicians pretend to be a manufacturing group to conceal their magic and make it look like mechanics, but I’m not sure I need to waste that little bit of fun on this thread. Since I’ve got a demi-god in thos whole thing I suspect that magic wouldn’t be too hard to add in, but I’ve not really defined the demo-god thing either so that’s easily removed if necessary. Although I suppose I could mix a demi-god with tech and not need magic in there too.

Both as a corp and a religion The Solex Corporation is going to have natural competitors, detractors, and enemies. Let me take these each at a time.

Competitors requires I know what it is these guys do to some greater degree I suppose. Though it’s reasonable to go the Coke Pepsi route here and just suggest that there is an entirely parallel corporation out there working a slightly different angle in the same niche. Exact same products and uses, but a different price point or maybe a different quality point. Maybe just later to market and always with a minor market share. A competitor like Pepsi who never goes after the 800 lb gorilla just tries harder to increase consumer mindshare and be no bigger than needed. Not much conflict here, more like natural good natured rivalry. That doesn’t mean that individuals couldn’t get carried away and competitive, but it’s unlikely the corps will do direct battle. Or I could turn the table and make The Solex Corp the upstart taking on the 800 lb gorilla. That gives them a fire the other guys don’t possess. In many readers minds that puts the other guy in the natural enemy camp. That could be fun and might even give me a place to put Roundmartin in the Shanty history.

Detractors would be competing in the same niche but with vastly different products. These would be the electricity guys trying to play off The Solex Corp as some sort of freaks of nature. Freaks who are potentially even immoral somehow because they use magic. These guys could give anywhere from the full-court press to just being innuendo-y. In any case they’d be aggressive from an oblique angle. Not head on. Always trying to make the customer feel a little dirty about going with The Solex Corp rather than the clean and natural electric co.

Enemies. Hmmm? The first two I only addressed the business side of The Solex Corp and not the religious. Now that I think on enemies I’ve got religion as the only comer. Might want to circle back and make it an even show. Religions hardly ever seem to clash until two get extreme enough compete for the same souls or large enough to finally square off ideologically. I don’t see that happening here. Or at least I don’t see it being something I’m interested in writing.